Chapter Text
Standing at the helm of the Brave Olivine was none other than the commander himself. They were currently flying over the colder regions of the Paldea region, and well, it was cold. Even with heating, the pilot’s room felt freezing. The man prided himself in many things. His tolerance for the cold was unfortunately not one of them.
Stifling a sneeze, he reached over and flicked the auto-pilot button. Once he double checked they were on course, he dropped himself into the captain’s chair, Cap perched on top of the back like he usually was when Friede steered. Sniffling, Friede hugged his arms around himself and rubbed his arms. “Arceus, why is it so cold…”
A quiet ‘Pika’ drew his attention and he looked not up but to his left, where Cap was holding a folded up blanket. Sporting a small smile, Friede accepted the blanket and wrapped it around himself. He didn’t really know when, but he’d managed to fall asleep in the captain’s chair, as much as he usually tried not to.
Soft shaking and ‘Pika’s slowly jostled him back into consciousness. He opened his eyes and blinked away the haze of waking up only to find himself freezing. Even under the blanket, he could not get warm and was shivering. He distantly noted that it was still dark out, but he didn’t focus on that much. Not when a sniffle triggered a sneeze and the sneeze jerked his body, which made the pounding in his head apparent.
With a soft groan, the commander leaned his head back against the chair and looked up to see Cap perched precariously on the top of the back. The Pokemon was leaning forward and staring at him, a concerned look on his small face. Another sniffle had Friede flinching from the burn in his nose and a short coughing fit, which in turn burned his throat. With a defeated sigh, he resigned to the fact that he was sick.
It was no secret he couldn’t handle the cold. Murdock had offered to take tonight from Friede since the trip over this area would only be a day or so, but Friede had assured the cook that he would be fine. He didn’t technically lie, he thought he would be fine. He realized now how foolish of a thought that was, but he hated not being helpful or productive. Even on the nights he didn’t steer, he took to patrolling or lookout.
Back to the matter at hand, Friede shivered and wrapped the blanket tighter around himself. It wasn’t super thick, so it didn’t do much in keeping him warm. Despite that, Friede felt far too cold to get up and move. When Cap hopped from the back of the chair to the armrest to climb onto his lap, the commander hardly complained. The pressure actually helped give him something else to focus on instead of the incessant pounding in his head.
He hadn’t realized he’d fallen back asleep until he was being picked up. Yellow eyes fluttered open only for him to get a face full of yellow. Blinking the haze from his eyes, he realized it was Cap, sitting on his stomach. He moved his head minutely, distantly aware of the pounding headache still there, and saw white. “Oh, hey, you’re awake. Sorry, I didn’t mean to wake you.”
Murdock’s voice relaxed him in a way he hadn’t realized was possible. “‘S fine. What time ‘s it..?” His reply was quiet, and sounded congested even to him. “It’s just after breakfast. You never miss breakfast, so Mollie sent me to check on you. Glad I did. That position did not look comfortable, and you have a fever. When did you start feeling sick?”
A soft grumble was his response as he closed his eyes. He got a scolding ‘Pikapi’ and heard Murdock laughing above him. “Don’t worry about responsibilities today. Just rest so Mollie doesn’t gripe at you, and I’ll bring you some soup around lunch and see how you’re doing. You don’t have to tackle this alone.”
Not having the energy to fight back, Friede hummed and let himself relax as best he could against the cook. Murdock didn’t show if he was affected by the action, only continued to carry him the long way to his cabin. Surely so he didn’t worry the kids. If Murdock was going about it this way, he didn’t doubt he looked awful, so he was grateful.
Only when the cook had him laid down in bed with his thick winter blanket did he squint open his eyes and say something. “Thanks Murdock…” The cook paused by the door and smiled back at the commander. “Always. We’re more than just crewmates, we’re friends. And what else are friends for?” Friede let himself smile as Cap settled on his chest, offering that grounding.
Later, Mollie came by and made sure Friede took medicine, both for the cold and his splitting headache. Only a few minutes later, Murdock came in with some soup and helped him sit up to eat it. The whole while, he felt out of it, his head foggy and pounding. It wasn’t until well into the afternoon the next day that his head started to clear.
He was still under bedrest from Mollie after attempting to join them for lunch that afternoon, but he couldn’t help but be glad he had such a caring and patient crew. No, friends. They weren’t crew when they were helping him, they were his friends. Just like Cap as he was laid on Friede’s chest, and Charizard who stood outside his cabin door, mostly to keep the room from getting too hot and bright from his flame.
The last thought he had before he fell asleep was how he felt truly blessed to have a crew of friends like the Rising Volt Tacklers.